Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1887-04-30

supper of coffee and cakes he would return m
the office, curl himself up on the counter
and sleep till he was reused by the man from
the press room, who used to bring the edition
around on his shoulder Then DAILY would fold
the papers and sell them to the newsbovs
linen he was made dramatic critic of The
tlnes' ana began to write plays From that
he naturally drifted into management His
aInoltions were, first, to have a perfect stock
company, not necessarily individually strong.
but one which should form harmonious and
artistic whole; second, he wanted to produce
old pays. A veteran manager once told me
That what Daily made on his regular season
he lost on his revivals. After he had trans
formed the present Fifth Avenue theatre
from barn into theatre the owners raised
the rent and he moved to the old Woods
museum, which he made into the present
Days theatre, the most fashionable play
house in New York.
Another manager with an idea is felici
tating himself over the 300th perform
ance of "Erminie." Ten years ago.
when Rudolph Aronson, clever young mu
stefan, whispered to his friends his scheme of
building a theatre which should be an
embodied dream of the Arabian nights
with a cafe in the gallery and
summer garden on the roof, with
flowers and fountains and many col
ored lights, a vision of fairyland, the
friends tapped their foreheads and shooL
their heads wisely, murmuring, "Poor Aron-
SON." When he further asserted that this
Utopian play house should be devoted to light
opera the friends howled in derision. He was
stark, staring mad. Comic opera could never
run III New York. Yet the Casino was
built, and ''Erminie" has seen its 3OOth
performance. 1t was hard enough work to
get the money for the erection of the house,
but stock company was formed, and two of
the heaviest stockholders were James D.
Fish, now of Auburn, and Ferdinand Ward,
of Sing Sing. New York owes a debt of
gratitude to these men for being instrumental
in the erection of a theatre the handsomest
in the metropolis and unique in this country.
The Casino is paying handsomely, and the
stockholders are being amply rewarded for
their faith IN the handsome and enthusiastic
young musician and his idea.
There is as vast a difference between these
two men with ideas as there is in their ideas.
Yet they were both ridiculed as dreamers at
the outset and they both won by perSever-
ance. There is a sermon in the success of
these two men that not one out of a thousand
who visit their theatres pause to think of.
Stephen Girard once told young man who
asked him how to make a success in life to
"fnd out what you want to do and then
do it." And that is the secret of the success
of both Augustin Daily and Rudolph Aron-
son.
/ do not mean to insinuate that Mr.. DAILY
and Mr. Aronson are the only two managers
with ideas any more than l intended to turn
a chat upon two successful managers into a
sermon. But when one sees hundreds of clever
young men drifting from one profession to
another and doing little in any, the tempta
ton is strong to point moral and adOrn Q
tale with the record of two men who have
given the public the best they had and stuck
at it. ALLAN FORMAN.